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Hakone is one of the most rewarding day trips from Tokyo — a compact mountain resort town packed with hot springs, volcanic scenery, art museums, and (on a clear day) postcard views of Mt. Fuji across Lake Ashi. The trick to doing it well in a single day is the Hakone Free Pass, a single ticket that covers your round-trip train fare from Tokyo and unlimited rides on almost every form of transport within the Hakone loop. This guide walks through exactly how to use it, in what order, so you don’t waste time backtracking or waiting for buses that never come.
What Is the Hakone Free Pass?
The Hakone Free Pass is issued by Odakyu Railway and includes round-trip transport between Shinjuku and Hakone-Yumoto (or a nearby station) plus unlimited use of the Hakone Tozan Railway, Hakone Tozan Cable Car (funicular), Hakone Ropeway, Hakone Sightseeing Cruise boats on Lake Ashi, and the Hakone Tozan Bus network within the designated area. It also gets you small discounts on some museum and onsen admissions.
- 2-day pass from Shinjuku: roughly 6,100 yen for adults (slightly less if you start from Odawara instead of Shinjuku).
- 3-day pass: a bit more expensive, useful only if you’re staying overnight.
- Passes are sold at Odakyu Sightseeing Service Centers in Shinjuku Station, or online in advance — buying ahead saves you a queue on a busy morning.
Even if you’re only doing Hakone as a single day trip, the 2-day version is usually the one sold, and it’s still worth it because of how many separate transport legs the loop involves — buying individual tickets would cost more and take longer.
Getting There: Shinjuku to Hakone-Yumoto
From Shinjuku Station, take the Odakyu Romancecar, a comfortable limited-express train with reserved seating and large windows. The ride to Hakone-Yumoto takes about 85 minutes. Note that the Romancecar requires a separate reserved-seat surcharge (around 1,200–1,300 yen each way) on top of the Free Pass — the pass itself covers the base fare, not the express supplement. If you’d rather not pay the surcharge, regular rapid or express trains on the same line are covered entirely by the pass, just slower and less scenic.
Aim to catch a train that gets you into Hakone-Yumoto by 9:00 or 9:30 am. Hakone is a full-day circuit, and starting late is the single biggest reason people run out of time before the last bus or cable car back to town.
The Hakone Loop: How the Day Fits Together
The classic Hakone day-trip route is a big loop that uses a different mode of transport at almost every stage — this is exactly what the Free Pass is designed for.
Step 1: Hakone-Yumoto to Gora (Hakone Tozan Railway)
From Hakone-Yumoto Station, board the Hakone Tozan Railway, a quaint mountain train that switches direction multiple times as it climbs steep terrain — a fun ride in itself. It takes about 40 minutes to reach Gora. If you have extra time and want to skip a stop, Chokoku-no-Mori Station along this line is the entrance to the Hakone Open-Air Museum, worth a detour if you enjoy sculpture parks framed by mountain views.
Step 2: Gora to Sounzan (Cable Car)
At Gora, transfer to the Hakone Tozan Cable Car (funicular), which climbs to Sounzan in about 10 minutes, stopping at a few small stations along the way, including Koen-kami, near the entrance to Gora Park.
Step 3: Sounzan to Togendai (Hakone Ropeway)
This is the highlight leg for most visitors. The Hakone Ropeway is a cable car (gondola) that crosses over Owakudani, an active volcanic valley with steaming vents and sulfur-yellow rocks. On a clear day, you’ll also get sweeping views of Mt. Fuji from the cabin. It’s worth getting off at Owakudani Station to walk around the crater area and try a kuro-tamago — a hard-boiled egg blackened by the sulfur springs, sold in packs of five for a few hundred yen and said to add years to your life for each one eaten (a fun local legend, not a health claim). Note that Owakudani occasionally closes due to volcanic gas monitoring, so check current status before you go.
Step 4: Togendai to Hakone-machi or Motohakone (Sightseeing Cruise)
Continue on the ropeway to Togendai on the shore of Lake Ashi, then board one of the Hakone Sightseeing Cruise boats — some are designed to look like pirate ships — for a scenic 25–30 minute crossing to Hakone-machi or Motohakone. This is the best spot for the classic view of Mt. Fuji rising behind the lake’s iconic red torii gate (near Hakone Shrine), weather permitting.
Step 5: Explore Hakone-machi / Motohakone
Once you’re across the lake, spend an hour or so here. Hakone Shrine, with its lakeside torii gate, is a short walk from Motohakone and one of the most photographed spots in the region. Nearby, the old Hakone Checkpoint (Hakone Sekisho) is a reconstructed Edo-period barrier station with a small museum if you want some history without a big time commitment.
Step 6: Back to Hakone-Yumoto (Bus)
From Hakone-machi or Motohakone, Hakone Tozan Buses run back to Hakone-Yumoto, all covered by the Free Pass. The ride takes 30–40 minutes depending on traffic, which can back up on weekends and holidays — build in buffer time before your return train.
Sample One-Day Schedule
- 8:00 am — Depart Shinjuku on the Romancecar
- 9:25 am — Arrive Hakone-Yumoto, transfer to Tozan Railway
- 10:10 am — Arrive Gora, transfer to cable car
- 10:30 am — Arrive Sounzan, transfer to ropeway
- 10:45 am — Owakudani stop: valley walk, kuro-tamago, views
- 12:00 pm — Continue to Togendai, lunch nearby (soba or lake-view restaurants)
- 1:00 pm — Board cruise boat to Motohakone
- 1:40 pm — Hakone Shrine, torii gate, lakeside walk
- 3:00 pm — Bus back to Hakone-Yumoto
- 3:45 pm — Optional foot bath or shop at Hakone-Yumoto’s main street
- 4:30–5:30 pm — Romancecar back to Shinjuku
Practical Tips
- Check the weather first. Mt. Fuji views from Owakudani and Lake Ashi depend entirely on clear skies, most reliable in winter mornings; summer and rainy season often mean clouds.
- Start early. The full loop takes 7–8 hours including transit and stops; starting after 10 am makes it tight to finish comfortably.
- Carry cash. Some smaller food stalls and the egg vendors at Owakudani don’t take cards.
- If you’d rather not plan transfers yourself, guided day tours from Tokyo bundle transport, an English-speaking guide, and sometimes lunch into one booking, which can simplify things if you’re short on time or nervous about connections.
- Book Romancecar seats ahead on weekends, as reserved cars can sell out during peak seasons like autumn foliage (November) and Golden Week.
- Bring a change into a footbath. Hakone-Yumoto’s main street has several free or low-cost foot baths (ashiyu) — a nice way to end the day before catching your train.
Is the Hakone Free Pass Worth It?
For a single day covering the full loop — train, mountain railway, cable car, ropeway, boat, and bus — the pass almost always works out cheaper than paying for each leg individually, and it removes the friction of buying tickets at every stop. Unless you’re planning a very limited visit to just one or two spots near Hakone-Yumoto, the Free Pass is the sensible default for a Hakone day trip.